Extract: "Michigan’s presidential recount suddenly appears in doubt after a state appeals court said the Green Party candidate’s poor showing disqualified her from seeking a second look at the votes."

It's extremely doubtful that a recount would make any difference. Here in US State of Georgia the machines cannot possibly give a recount output different than the first output. If there were to be corruption there is no safeguard against it... there is no back-up... nothing to capture the event of voting... separate... nothing apart from the (potential to inevitable) corruption of the device itself. Any paper trail afaik has been completely eliminated.

Call your electors! Reach out to them any way you can!

While the popular vote went to Clinton, almost any choice... Kuchinich etc. would be an improvement.

I'm working on a response (a LONG response) to a members prior post (in this string)......and this article in Oregon relates to part of my response.

One of the things that our society and OTHERS will have to deal with....is the HUGE (ok...UUUGGGE) disparity in pay in many companies between the "C Suite" folks (CEO, COO, CIO, etc) and "the working folks".

Trump....is certainly NOT going to address this. But this IS an issue that has been percolating for several years in different places around the world. Switzerland voted on a referendum that would have maxed out the pay differential between the CEO and the lowest paid employee of the company back in 2013. In Switzerland...the "max multiple" was 12. Personally...I think that is on the "low side"....(some companies in the US the ratio now may be over 1,000 to 1 in many cases).

In Portland, Oregon (my old stomping grounds) the CITY OF PORTLAND just passed a "business tax" that will be levied on companies that hold a business license....AND....pay their CEO more than 100 times the AVERAGE WORKERS PAY. I don't like this as well for a couple reasons: (1)It's not SIMPLE ENOUGH (I like the idea of a multiple on the LOWEST PAID WORKER instead), (2) the multiple is too high.

But my point is this: While Trump will NOT be a person who is going to deal with this.....this will likely come up DURING HIS TENURE (if he lasts 4 years).

The idea....as a CPA numbers guy....is to keep it as SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE (the old 80/20 rule). Give companies a CLEAR FIELD on which to operate with CLEAR BOUNDRIES (I call them "sidelines....think of a football field where you lay out the sidelines....and let the companies play WITHIN those boundaries). There are a lot of "complex issues" to deal with TO MAKE IT SIMPLE (and I WON'T go into that in detail....you have subsidiaries of multiple layer companies to deal with...as well as other issues)....but you have to make it as SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE.

But the idea is to lay out the playing field....and force companies to NOT let their pay ratios between upper paid...and lower paid...get too far out of whack (like they are now).

By the way.....yesterday Donald Trump said he wanted to be "judged starting with the election date" not his inauguration date.

The reason for this is CLEAR: The economy has a lot of steam RIGHT NOW THAT IS DUE TO OBAMA'S POLICIES. Unemployment is at 4.6%.....growth is at 3.2%....jobless claims are low.

As I noted a week or two ago....I expect those numbers to continue to improve because of momentum that has been building in the economy, AND....that other world economies have been strengthening over the last couple of months.

By the time Trump takes office in late January.....the unemployment rate might be 4.5%...or lower. And the GDP may tick up this quarter as well (Oct, Nov, Dec).

Trump want's the easiest comparable's possible. So he would rather be judged against a 4.6% unemployment rate rather than a lower rate.

It is just another case of Trump "making up his own reality". Or...as the rest of us call it....LYING.

This mornings jobless claims were low again....and more good news for the economy. Keep in mind.....that the US economy has recovered EVEN WITHOUT A LOT OF FISCAL STIMULUS THAT WAS WANTED BY THE DEMOCRAT's. Now that a Republican is going to be in the oval office....all of the sudden the Republicans are big believers in fiscal stimulus (it will cause inflation if they do it...).

It's pretty hard to stop the momentum that has built up in the economy right now. And Trump "policies" won't take effect for another 6 months at least....so I expect business conditions in the US to continue upwards.

My thinking post election was that the stock market would drop with Trump's victory. In fact, the stock market has been rallying. Trump will obviously take credit for that as well, deserved or not.

The "market" has NOTHING to do with who wins or loses in the short term or intermediate term. ONLY THE LONG TERM.

In the short and intermediate term....all about how much money is "in the pool"....and how much money is "out of the pool". Best time to invest is when most of the money is "out of the pool". In addition....we are in an environment where interest rates are expected to go UP....which is bad for the bond market.....and money is coming OUT of the bond market, and heading INTO the stock market. And this is likely a SUPER LONG TERM MOVE out of bonds.

Also....with the race so close BEFORE THE ELECTION....."big money" was either "heavily hedged" (like Mark Cuban)...or out of the market (if a lot of money is OUT OF THE MARKET....there next step is to go INTO THE MARKET...which is bullish).

Also....keep in mind that Trump wants to do a lot of "infrastructure" (the type the Republicans hadn't wanted to do over the last 8 years.....but are all of the sudden happy to do it ).

THINK SUPPLY AND DEMAND. The best time to buy....is when nobody wants it. The worst time to buy...is when everyone wants it (think....housing booms and busts.....oil booms and busts..etc). There WILL BE A DOWNTURN AHEAD.....but it will depend on "liquidity" (money moving OUT of the market) and perceived weakness ahead (which isn't there yet...due to low unemployment and good GDP).

NOTE: The bottom of the HOUSING MARKET wasn't until about late winter of 2011....long AFTER the stock market bottom of March 2009. Markets are driven by buyers vs sellers.

I expect we will see a "run" at 20,000 before any type of significant pullback. And we are "likely" to see a recession of some sort (likely of the "light" variety) that would start sometime over the next year or two.

Keep in mind....I BELIEVE...the next "productivity gains" have already started: Robotics AND energy. Those two things will produce HUGE.....UUUGGGGGEEEE....gains in the coming decade or two.

You can rest assured that Russia, China, and OPEC will tweak structural levers that create economic disruption and weakness for the US. And Iran and other terrorist states and non-state actors will provoke the US via an incident, and rest assured that Trump and his cabinet of generals will overreach. The US will be as vulnerable as anytime in the past few hundred years, yet still in possession of the world's strongest military and a huge nuclear arsenal. Terrible combo for all of us.

But hopefully those folks in the rust belt with economic anxiety will feel better. Thankfully we are all safe now from Hillary Clinton's email server.

I put this in this string on purpose. Even though I haven't read the book YET....

"One bias they found is that we underestimate uncertainty. In hindsight bias, for example, test subjects misremembered their own predictions as being correct. As Tversky explained, “we find ourselves unable to predict what will happen; yet, after the fact we explain what did happen with a great deal of confidence. . . . It leads us to believe that there is a less uncertain world than there actually is.” Mr. Lewis is outraged by McKinsey & Co. coaching their consultants to radiate certainty while billing clients huge fees to forecast such unknowable variables as the future price of oil. The work of Tversky and Mr. Kahneman convinced Mr. Lewis that, as he puts it when summarizing the view of a jaded former consultant, such “confidence was a sign of fraudulence.”

There are 3 areas of the universe that have been "under discovered": Outerspace, the deep oceans, and the human mind.

Behavioral Psychology is UNDER UTILZED in both government AND in business. I see it all the time....both in the setting or mis-setting of proper "incentives and disincentives".

This would NOT likely be a book that the Donald would read.....but given Michael Lewis's past works...I am anxious to buy it and immerse myself.

One possible theory, Schoenberg said, is that “the new allegations came from people associated with the Trump campaign.”Report Advertisement

He continued on his blog:

What if the allegations were intentionally false? During the nine days when the investigation was underway, Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani made public statements suggesting he was in communication with the FBI about the ongoing investigation. It does not seem too far-fetched to believe that politically-motivated individuals might have tried to get the FBI to re-open the investigation of Clinton by making false allegations. Finding Huma Abedin’s e-mails on Weiner’s laptop might have been just an opportunity to carry out their wishes.

Buddy: It is interesting, if not suspect that James Comey's actions ten or so days before the election have received little attention post-election. His action's may have been the deciding factor in the election. Yet, very little has been said about it. Thanks for bringing up this point.

Trump is headed for a disaster of some sort. Nobody knows what is going to happen....and when...but when someone makes BAD DECISIONS....bad things happen. And when someone hires bad people....it makes bad decisions just that much more likely.

But there will have to be a legal reason to oust Trump. And there are three TWO possibilities: (1) the Rudy Guiliani/FBI connection, and (2) the Russian hacking and "help" given to them by Trump and/or his kids. I would suspect that one of those will be the lynchpin for Trump (3) improper business dealings between Trump's companies and foreign countries/individuals.

I am dying to see who the Secretary of State appointment will be. Rudy Guiliani doesn't have the ability or the composure to be Secretary of State. BUT.....he is likely the reason that Donald Trump is going to be president (via the FBI letter from Comey). And IF Donald Trump knows what Rudy did....and anyone else ALSO knew what Rudy did (ie Deepthroat II?).....then Trump may feel he HAS to appoint Rudy Guiliani.

The above is ALL "conjecture". But it is conjecture by connecting some VERY REAL DOTS of what we know happened. We KNOW the dots: (a) Guiliani talked with some FBI folks (he's admitted to that...although he has not YET admitted to talking with CURRENT FBI folks. But there isn't much difference to talking THROUGH an ex FBI person to convey a message to a CURRENT FBI person....and talking directly to the current FBI person (b) We KNOW that Rep Chavis from Utah......has had a "jihad" on the issue with Clinton. Did he work WITH Rudy in all of this? Did he convey any "message" either directly or indirectly? (c) we know that Trump will keep most of his business dealings....and we know he is a crook.

And what if Guliani ISN'T given the post of Secretary of State? If he doesn't have any "skin in the game" of President Trumps cabinet......what will be made of Rudy Guiliani then? And IF (big IF) shit DOES hit the fan....would Rudy save his ass by giving investigators a BIGGER ASS?

All conjecture right now.....but again....WE DO KNOW SOME OF THE DOTS. It's now connecting them that may finish the picture...

And on the Russian front......we know: (1) Donald Trump ACTUALLY ASKED THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT FOR DOCUMENTS/EMAILS....everyone in the world KNOWS THAT (2) Where were Donald's kids...did they have any communications, either directly or indirectly with people in the Russian government to help or encourage Russia to play a part in the election process?

So those are the two issues that I would bet on....if I were a betting man. But it may be Donald's incompetence in office over the coming 6 - 18 months that triggers a closer scrutiny of those two problem areas for Trump. And that is how Trump's future impeachment unwinds.

A third possibility would be business dealings between Trump or his family....with foreign powers. That is a THIRD possibility of how Trump could get impeached.

There is a long history of MAN(or women) thinking he can get away with something. You would think with ALL THE HISTORY of people getting caught....that people wouldn't do those kind of things. But they do. Individuals NEVER seem to learn from history. Football coaches continue to have recruiting violations in order to secure recruits. High school teachers continue to have sexual affairs with students half their age. And politicians...once in power....continue to "overreach" in some manner.

The "other" issue related to global warming AND Trump....is atmospheric temps and the ice sheets over coming months. I suspect that this will become a BIGGER AND BIGGER DEAL as the MONTHS (not years) go by.

1) What if global surface temps continue to slowly rise after a recent "plateau" of 7 months? What if we get a spate of record high spring temperatures like we did in 2012?2) What if the sea ice area (and volume) CONTINUE to drop in the Arctic and Antarctic? Will be at a record low in the Antarctic come February? Will the Arctic continue to add ice begrudgingly and be at or near record low coverage come February? And what happens if the Artic ice sheet sets another new record low this September?

The fossil fuel companies are now making their last stand.....and Dimwit Donnie is certainly trying to help them. What if he appoints Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State.....AND....the above two items continue to happen and global warming continues unabated?

I STRONLY BELIEVE (based on FACTS....TRENDS....NUMBERS..SCIENCE) that the "fundamental physics" remain in place....and are in fact growing stronger....for the above 2 items to continue. And that will eventually "entrap" a lot of Republicans....and Dimwit Donnie as well trying to support something like the idea that global warming isn't a big deal....as temps continue to go up...and ice continues to melt....and voters in the US and elsewhere continue to see what is happening.

With Trump's admin potentially assuming power open January, it's simply not going to matter (to them) if measurements and observations show increasing global temps or decreasing global sea ice. It will all be deemed a continued hoax by liberal scientists or a fake set of measurements. Just watch. So many climate deniers are proposed for key positions, that the message will be consistent and relentless, all for the sake of the fossil fuel interests. It's all about money. Flooding and sea level rise will continue to worsen in Miami and elsewhere, but a Trump admin will never embrace the science and fact of climate change. At least we have been saved from Hillary Clinton's email server!

What will be interesting is that the majority of US citizens (per opinion polls) accept the facts of climate change. And the renewable energy industry has developed a critical mass. And a large part of corporate America is committed to green strategies and energy efficiency. And much of the world is aligned with climate change fact. All this is to say that there is going to be a huge oppositional force in place against the official climate change denial policy of the US federal government.

All of this will simply be noise, as the loss of the cryosphere and degradation of the biosphere continue unabated, with accelerant in the form of anti-science US government "leadership".

What will be interesting is that the majority of US citizens (per opinion polls) accept the facts of climate change. And the renewable energy industry has developed a critical mass. And a large part of corporate America is committed to green strategies and energy efficiency. And much of the world is aligned with climate change fact. All this is to say that there is going to be a huge oppositional force in place against the official climate change denial policy of the US federal government.

Governments/politicians are ALWAYS the LAST TO MOVE. Tobacco.....sugar.....asbestos....fossil fuels....etc, etc, etc. John Boehner....the prior leader of House Of Representatives (from Ohio) sits on the board of one of the large tobacco companies. They "paid" him while he was in office by backing him during his re-election campaigns.....now they are LITERALLY PAYING HIM for all his PRIOR YEARS OF LYING FOR THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY as a member of the board of directors.

I think the momentum in the ACTUAL PHSYCIS.....+.....the momentum in the CITIZENS PSYCHIE........will be the turning point. And it has been building over the last 5 years....and continues to build towards a PEAK (BOTH the science AND the psychology). We're getting closer and closer to LARGER TIPPING POINTS as witnessed by BOTH the global temperatures AND the global sea ice levels.

The truth NEVER goes away......I think we're getting a LOT CLOSER than people realize.

Trump has already gone on record that he doesn't believe the findings of 16 US intelligence agencies, that Russia had a primary role in cyber disruption of the US election. He and his followers will not believe anything else that comes out of additional investigations, especially since they are commissioned by Obama, yet they will readily believe that Hillary Clinton is running a child sex traffic ring out of a pizza parlor in Washington DC. And Trump takes advice from people that think the Sandy Hook shooting was made up.

The US constitution has provided a mechanism for preventing Trump to assume the presidency, and the electoral college simply needs to follow the guidance of the founders. So much damage, pain, and death can be prevented if the electors simply make the correct choice.

The President-elect should be taken firmly by the hand and led to Valley Forge.

Quote

Anthropogenic, or human caused, climate change challenges national parks in ways we have never seen before. Glaciers are retreating at alarming rates. Increasingly destructive storms threaten cultural resources and park facilities. Habitats are being disrupted and species are being displaced. Responding to climate change is the greatest challenge facing the National Park Service today.https://www.nps.gov/vafo/getinvolved/climate-change.htm

If the following is a short list, I shudder to think what a long list may look like.

Quote

A short list of major effects of climate change at Valley Forge NHP could include: increasing flood damage because of more frequent and stronger storm events; difficulty in achieving reforestation because of the soil erosion from stronger storms and soil acidification from air pollution deposition; increased types and densities of exotic invasive plant species which adapt more easily than native species to warming temperatures and acidified soils; adverse impacts to plant species from increased numbers of pathogens and exotic insects; loss of park plant species, such as the sugar maple, that cannot adapt to warmer temperatures; loss of animal species that depend on the plant species that will disappear; deterioration of historic structures from the effects of wind-driven rain and higher humidity; deterioration of monuments from acid rain; and adverse impacts to museum objects from higher humidity levels and more favorable conditions for insect pests. https://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/vafo/naturalresources/climate.cfm

The US constitution has provided a mechanism for preventing Trump to assume the presidency, and the electoral college simply needs to follow the guidance of the founders. So much damage, pain, and death can be prevented if the electors simply make the correct choice.

The linked article is entitled: "CIA Reportedly Concludes Russian Interference Aimed To Elect Trump". If the press writes enough about this before Dec 19th; maybe the electors will get the message that the election was hacked.

Extract: "U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia interfered with the 2016 election, specifically to help Donald Trump win the presidency, The Washington Post first reported on Friday.

In addition to hacking into Democratic organizations, Russians hacked the Republican National Committee's computer systems, according to the Post — but they did not release any information that might have been retrieved from Republican networks.…Reporter Adam Entous says he interpreted the transition team's reaction as disbelief in the CIA's latest assessment due to an imperfect track record. "It's certainly true that the CIA has been wrong before — you know, intelligence failures are not that uncommon in the history of the CIA," Entous says.

But whether or not Trump's top officials acknowledge the report as a possible threat, Entous points out Trump will soon be in command of the intelligence agencies."

Logged

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Leon C. Megginson

Extract: “Many former and current Boeing executives say they're far more worried about Trump's antagonism toward China, the largest and most important growth market for the crown jewel of American manufacturing.

"The vulnerability to China is pretty clear," said one former senior Boeing executive.In contrast to the long term stakes over Boeing's future in China, the flap over the cost of Air Force One lasted 24 hours.

Boeing would be a prime target in any retribution by China if Trump follows through on his campaign threat to impose a hefty tariff on Chinese imports.

A shift of orders to Airbus would likely cause a rippling drop in output for Boeing, a loss of jobs, and, crucially, a loss of market share that would give Airbus the ability to lower prices and win other deals.

One-quarter of the nearly 500 Boeing 737 jets delivered in 2015 went to Chinese airlines, serving a fast-growing middle class that's as large as the entire U.S. population. The market is worth a trillion dollars over the next 20 years.”

Logged

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Leon C. Megginson

Trump + Putin = oilgarchy (sic) USA and Russia forge alliances to extract the very last sniff of fossil fuels for the benefit of the 0.01%. As USA moves strongly to fascism, Canada sees huge spike in immigration. Texans emigrate to Mexico in droves.

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Oil money is so thoroughly ingrained in the Texas culture and economy that there is little interest in or sympathy for those who have become collateral damage in the drive for riches.http://stories.weather.com/fracking

"‘It’s Like a Powder Keg That’s Going to Explode’Two longtime ethics experts argue Trump’s business conflicts are so big it should affect how the Electoral College votes.

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Hillary Clinton's vote lead has increased to 2.5 million. There is now bi-partisan support for the election probe and Trump's business conflicts wont go away. If he's unwilling to let his business dealings go, he should not take office.

Extract: “Donald Trump doesn't believe all this nonsense about Russia interfering with the election to help him out. I guess we all expected that. But then there's this:

He also indicated that as president, he would not take the daily intelligence briefing that President Obama and his predecessors have received. Mr. Trump, who has received the briefing sparingly as president-elect, said that it was often repetitive and that he would take it “when I need it.” He said his vice president, Mike Pence, would receive the daily briefing.

“You know, I’m, like, a smart person,” he said. “I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.””

Logged

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Leon C. Megginson

"Bipartisan Anger Grows Over Russian Interference Into U.S. Election."

And that is KEY.....that some Republicans get "on board". This could have SIGNIFCANT LEGS over the coming months. We'll see...

Momentum is building with the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell now on board for the election interference probe, and some electors are demanding information from intelligence previous to December 19.

Now, both McConnell and Ryan are on board with the probe. I'd also like to mention the possible impact James Comey had on the election results. For what it's worth, Sen. Harry Reid blamed Comey for the Democrats losing on November 8, both the presidency and the Senate majority;

"A Trump adviser attributed the holdup to “how convoluted and complex many of these business holdings are.”

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Frequent contributor "Buddy" has mentioned more than once Trump's apparent reluctance to hold a press conference, amongst other things. According to this article, he is postponing his press conference further. If Trump's business interests are too complicated to detach from during his Presidency, perhaps he should do the honorable thing and not take office at all. Furthermore, I'm wondering if the IRS audit on his tax returns has been completed, which would allow him to finally release them. I wouldn't hold my breath!

Mitch McConnell is a scurrilous traitor to the Republic. His agreeing to the Russia probe is just window dressing, and he really has no choice. Will there be a special committee, will they pursue with urgency and intensity like say, Benghazi and emails? Ah no. Don't take anything Mitch McConnell does as meaningful.

Mitch McConnell is a scurrilous traitor to the Republic. His agreeing to the Russia probe is just window dressing, and he really has no choice. Will there be a special committee, will they pursue with urgency and intensity like say, Benghazi and emails? Ah no. Don't take anything Mitch McConnell does as meaningful.

I substantially agree with your post Pileus. If you haven't seen my recent post on Empire: America, I posted an article about McConnell's duplicity with regard to the probe involving Russian involvement with the election. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a traitor though, but personally I cant stand the guy.

I substantially agree with your post Pileus. If you haven't seen my recent post on Empire: America, I posted an article about McConnell's duplicity with regard to the probe involving Russian involvement with the election. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a traitor though, but personally I cant stand the guy.

They are cowardly traitors to their country and of humanity. Corporations are people, but they are a special kind of people with much more influence over elected officials than meat and bone people. That wouldn't be so bad if corporations were US citizens with US interest. These are corporations who's interest lie along other nations, in this case in particular Russia. BY delivering policy developed to give aid and comfort to the US, like this fossil fuel binge, these people, Trump, Tillerson, and many GOP and Dems, are traitors.

How will this treason play out? many ways

1. IT will deepen the US addiction to foreign oil, further widening the fossil fuel vulnerability. If at anytime Putin decides to cripple the US, all he has to do is close the spigots. At that point the US economy will crash and burn.

2. By keeping the US and the world addicted to oil, Putin guarantees an ice free arctic. Russia gains thousands of miles of coast, which they will completely control.

3. Russia is one of the coldest countries on Earth. The probably have millions of miles of cold impenetrable forests. According to naive climate theory, since the climate will be the same but warmer, all he has to do is wait for the forest to burn under the lack of snow and then take advantage of the new warmer great plains. At the very same time that Russia is reaping the benefits of global warming, The US looses its climate advantage.

Or so goes the plan. Of course they are being foolish. The climate will not be the same but warmer. Millions perhaps billions will die adapting to the new climate, including many russians. But that doesn't matter to them. what matters is to make Russia great again.

Logged

I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

I substantially agree with your post Pileus. If you haven't seen my recent post on Empire: America, I posted an article about McConnell's duplicity with regard to the probe involving Russian involvement with the election. I wouldn't go as far as calling him a traitor though, but personally I cant stand the guy.

McConnell is the point person for the overall legislative resistance to Obama since Jan 2009. To declare the party you lead is not going to participate in governance, because you lost the Presidential election to a Democrat, is an abdication of Constitutional duties as a Senator. He led the process to deny confirmation processes to dozens of federal judge candidates, again because the Democrat won the Presidency in 2008 and 2012. And he led the denial of Senate hearings for Obama's Supreme Court nominee, using an anti-Constitutional position that a president entering the fourth your of a term should not nominate a candidate. These are not "checks and balances" as the framers intended.

Your points regarding McConnell are well taken and he does have a lot to answer for. As bad as he is though, there are a lot worse Republicans in Congress, such as the "Freedom Caucus" in the House of Representatives.

Mitt...as I expected....got "cut off at the knees." Pretty amazing. Mitt comes out several months ago and tells the truth, and calls Trump a fraud...a phony....someone without character. And then Mitt does the unspeakable after the election.....he kisses Trump's ass. Boy....was Mitt blind or what?

And now....Mitt is neutered. "They" (both little round things) have been "cut off". He is now in no man's land. He's both kissed Trump's ass....and called him out on the carpet. Now....NOBODY believes him....and he will have absolutely no say in government at all....the rest of his life.

Backlash against Putin and Trump is increasing. I'm a big believer in the "roach theory"....and more roaches seem to be crawling out of the woodwork on the Russian hacking issue. Never underestimate how stupid and greedy someone can get when it comes to attaining power. I would hate to think that a trail leads from one of the Trump's back to Russia. If it looks like a rat...talks like a rat...and walks like a rat....it's usually a rat. And right now....the Trump's are looking very "rat like".